In an interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant, published on the night of this Thursday (13), the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, declared that the Wagner Group “simply does not exist”. Putin said this based on the fact that in Russia paramilitary groups like the one commanded by Prigozhin are “prohibited” from existing.
The Russian president remains firm in his objective of detaching the image of mercenaries from his government, which until recently were one of his main forces in Ukrainian territory.
“It just doesn’t exist,” Putin said, referring to the paramilitary unit. “There is no law on private military organizations,” he assured.
During the interview, the Russian president also spoke about the meeting that took place between him, Prigozhin and the Wagner military. At the meeting held in the Kremlin on June 29, Prigozhin allegedly refused an offer to keep his men in Ukraine.
“Everyone could have stayed in one location and continued to serve” and “nothing would have changed for them. They would have continued to be commanded by the same person who was already their actual commander,” Putin said, referring to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, with whom Prigozhin has serious disagreements.
The president claimed that the proposal was one of the “several employment options” he gave to the mercenaries after the rebellion, which ended with Prigozhin’s exile in Belarus and the dismantling of the group. three options for mercenaries which included joining the Russian armed forces, going to Belarus or demobilization.
The Russian government is currently completing the process to hand over the Wagner weapons to the Ministry of Defense. The move is seen as an attempt by the Putin government to defuse new threats and reorganize the group’s remaining mercenaries into the country’s regular forces.
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